I am new to the cake world. But I was just wondering about how much would it cost for the ingrediants for a wedding cake that serves 200 people. I would make just a yellow cake from scratch. Just was wondering. Also I was wondering if it would be better to make a cake from scratch or to just buy duncan hines or something along those lines. What do clients prefere? Thanks for any info ~Melissa Chaney~
It is hard to say what it would cost from scratch without your recipe. Duncan Hines is excellent and is what I always use (French Vanilla & Devil's Food). I can get this for 88 cents at Walmart. 7-8 boxes- $15 max for cake ingredients. Don't forget your icing cost, flowers, boards, separators, ornament, etc.
I'm with Jenn on the Duncan Hines philosophy......if your customer requests homemade, then by all means, provide homemade~ but for me, that ups the price due to the extra time involved and ingredients. I recently had a customer request that I use her old family recipes for two different holiday cakes. These were very involved and I was afraid that having never made them before, mine wouldn't meet the family's expectations! Plus...she expected the price I charge for DH cakes...........No Way! If your customer hasn't specifically asked for homemade...........go DH! I add an extra egg and a little more oil. Makes more of a homemade texture, and tastes wonderful. There are some other "enhanced" cake mix ideas on this site also.
Good luck!
Another option is to go to the "Cake Decorating Business" forum and download the very first post you see called "Pricing Matrix." This will help you out in deciding cost, how many ingredients to buy, etc. Good luck! 
Why not do a White Chocolate Wedding cake (Duncan Hines Mix). I got the recipe on this website and used it for a wedding. It was delicious!
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